PASTEL SUPPLIES
A good colour selection of soft pastels – NO OIL PASTELS. I recommend buying the largest set you can comfortably afford. A set with a bare minimum of 72 colors would be a starting point but I would go to around a 96 colour set if you can work it into your budget. I can't stress enough here just how important a good variety of pastels is to the success of your learning the medium.
-recommended brands are Unison, Rembrandt, NuPastel, Holbien, Gerault and Terry Ludwigs(for darks). There are other brands that are great but these are just a few well known companies that you might find most easily. Schminche pastels are too soft for my type of work and I am not impressed with Sennelier.
Helpful Hints:
1 PITT soft charcoal pencil. This brand is important. (see line above) (Opus)
1 GENERAL white charcoal pencil (this is not a pastel pencil) (Opus)
1 or 2 sheets of La Carte Pastel Card.
1 Pentel or Tuff Stuff white clickable eraser (much like a mechanical pencil). These come in different thicknesses (1/4 and 1/8 inch) and a variety is always good as I use my 1/8 inch a lot.
1 colour shaper #0 angle chisel (optional)
1 colour shaper #0 cup round (optional)
Coreplast (corrugated plastic sheet), matboard, hard board, foamcore or other stiff surface large enough to tape EACH of your paintings to. Our demo painting will require a size no larger than 16 x 20 inches. Coreplast available at Home Depot
Masking tape. The regular type NOT the easy-to-remove painter’s tape.
A piece of flat, unfolded vellum, cartridge paper or other paper larger than your painting to place over top for protection. One for EACH painting you plan to do. (Opus)
2 old facecloths or hand towels.
1 good quality flannel backed plastic table cloth for placing under your work. I prefer the round ones for the floor and square if you are working on the table. I use these with the flannel side up to catch the dust and hold it while the plastic side keeps it from going through. It you are coming to a workshop at my studio, this will be provided for you
If you are purchasing an easel I strongly suggest one that will tilt slightly forward. Almost all French easels are forward-tilting. This allows the excess pastel dust to fall straight down free and away from your painting rather than slide down and adhere to the sanded surface of a painting that is leaning away from you. Pastels take up a lot of table space so a floor easel works the best. Each student attending in my studio has 3’ x 3’ of table space to themselves and a very basic floor easel with a lamp.
If you plan to do your set up at home, have your sketch completed on cartridge or other plain paper before class begins. If you are unsure of your choice of subject matter, have several drawings done. We will be transferring the drawing to our pastel paper in class. Cartridge paper is available at most major art stores in large inexpensive pads. It is very white and retains its whiteness so is an ideal sketching paper at any time.
-recommended brands are Unison, Rembrandt, NuPastel, Holbien, Gerault and Terry Ludwigs(for darks). There are other brands that are great but these are just a few well known companies that you might find most easily. Schminche pastels are too soft for my type of work and I am not impressed with Sennelier.
Helpful Hints:
- The Unison Starter set of 72 is pricey but a great pastel and my personal favorite. In my area of Abbotsford, House of Fine Art is selling these for great prices. (USA on-line through Jerry’s Artarama, Dick Blick and sometimes Dakota Art Pastel for best deals) If registered with Jerry’s you will receive email coupons for discounts from 10 to 20%.
- I have never found a basic set of pastels that contain enough darks to suit my style. Terry Ludwig has put together a set of 60 Dianna Ponting Darks that are to die for! Available through my studio, if in stock or www.terryludwig.com
- (Koss, Mungio or SMI are definitely NOT recommended nor do I advise purchasing any other pastel of "student" quality. These pastels are usually easily identified by their lack of weight, large square design and low price. They have very low adhesive qualities and if you are taking classes with me because you like my style of work, you will not be able to achieve results even close with these types of pastels.)
- Pastel pencils are optional if you have them. I use surprisingly little or no pastel pencil on most of my pieces. My absolute favorite brand is Carb Othello.
1 PITT soft charcoal pencil. This brand is important. (see line above) (Opus)
1 GENERAL white charcoal pencil (this is not a pastel pencil) (Opus)
1 or 2 sheets of La Carte Pastel Card.
- Is my favourite paper. Light Grey, Sand and Sienna are good colour choices. Available through De Serres, Vancouver but their salespeople are easily confused so ask only for their “sanded paper” (not by name) and take the skew # S262187. Also available at Dakota Art Pastels, in Mt. Vernon, WA www.dakotapastels.com
- I do portraiture on suede matboard.
- Pastelmat (Clairfontaine) is also a great paper available at places like Dakota. It is my first choice for birds and very fine detail. It is also great for portraiture.
1 Pentel or Tuff Stuff white clickable eraser (much like a mechanical pencil). These come in different thicknesses (1/4 and 1/8 inch) and a variety is always good as I use my 1/8 inch a lot.
1 colour shaper #0 angle chisel (optional)
1 colour shaper #0 cup round (optional)
Coreplast (corrugated plastic sheet), matboard, hard board, foamcore or other stiff surface large enough to tape EACH of your paintings to. Our demo painting will require a size no larger than 16 x 20 inches. Coreplast available at Home Depot
Masking tape. The regular type NOT the easy-to-remove painter’s tape.
A piece of flat, unfolded vellum, cartridge paper or other paper larger than your painting to place over top for protection. One for EACH painting you plan to do. (Opus)
2 old facecloths or hand towels.
1 good quality flannel backed plastic table cloth for placing under your work. I prefer the round ones for the floor and square if you are working on the table. I use these with the flannel side up to catch the dust and hold it while the plastic side keeps it from going through. It you are coming to a workshop at my studio, this will be provided for you
If you are purchasing an easel I strongly suggest one that will tilt slightly forward. Almost all French easels are forward-tilting. This allows the excess pastel dust to fall straight down free and away from your painting rather than slide down and adhere to the sanded surface of a painting that is leaning away from you. Pastels take up a lot of table space so a floor easel works the best. Each student attending in my studio has 3’ x 3’ of table space to themselves and a very basic floor easel with a lamp.
If you plan to do your set up at home, have your sketch completed on cartridge or other plain paper before class begins. If you are unsure of your choice of subject matter, have several drawings done. We will be transferring the drawing to our pastel paper in class. Cartridge paper is available at most major art stores in large inexpensive pads. It is very white and retains its whiteness so is an ideal sketching paper at any time.
Should you need assistance, please don’t hesitate to call (1) 604-856-2063 or email me…. Dianna
